Thursday, May 14, 2015

Car Bombs Continue To Climb In Iraq

As the Islamic State (IS) began to retreat in Iraq it also
lost some of its important car bomb factories. Jurf al-Sakhr in Babil for
example, which was lost at the end of last year was the main base for bombing
southern Iraq and parts of Baghdad. That led to a steady decline in vehicle
borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) at the end of 2014. In the new
year, IS has been picking up these types of attacks. This is to make up for its
setbacks on the battlefield, and shows that it has been able to rebuild some of
its networks.

Each month of 2015 has seen an increase in the number of
successful car bomb attacks. In January there were 45, February 52, March 62,
and then 67 in April. When averaged out that went from 1.4 VBIEDs per day in
January to 2.2 per day by April. The amount of days with car bombs has also
gone up with 16 in January, 17 in February, 18 in March, and 20 in April. The
actual number of car bombs deployed was much higher as dozens more were
destroyed before reaching their targets.

Number of VBIEDs in Iraq 2015

Month

# Of
VBIEDs

Avg # of
VBIEDs per day

Number of
days with VBIEDs

Jan

45

1.4

16

Feb

52

1.8

17

Mar

63

2.0

18

Apr

67

2.2

20

As the amount of VBIEDs has increased their targets have
shifted as well. From January to March the vast major of car bombs were aimed
at the battlefield. In January 21 of 39 attacks were tactical ones mostly aimed
at government forces. In February it was more even at 17 military and 14
civilian targets. In March 22 out of 36 attacks were military ones. In April
however the numbers shifted to 30 out of 48 being civilian targets. The
locations of the VBIEDs showed the same thing. In the first three months of the
year the vast majority of car bombs were in places like Salahaddin, Anbar, etc.
instead of Baghdad, which historically has seen the most bombings. That
suddenly shifted in April with 22 attacks being aimed the capital province
showing the return of terrorist attacks against civilians.

Car Bomb Targets 2015

Month

Targets

Locations

Jan

Military 21

Civilian 18

Kirkuk 1

Babil 2

Baghdad 2

Diyala 2

Ninewa 3

Salahaddin 9

Anbar 12

Feb

Military 17

Civilian 14

Kirkuk 1

Ninewa 1

Anbar 3

Babil 3

Diyala 3

Baghdad 4

Salahaddin 17

Mar

Military 22

Civilian 14

Babil 1

Diyala 1

Kirkuk 2

Baghdad 7

Salahaddin 10

Anbar 15

Apr

Military 18

Civilian 30

Irbil 1

Kirkuk 1

Babil 2

Diyala 2

Salahaddin 6

Anbar 14

Baghdad 22

The steady increase in car bombs throughout 2015 showed that
the Islamic State was determined to take a toll on Iraq while it was losing
ground. It has faced setbacks in some of its major strongholds in Diyala, Babil
and Salahaddin. As the government has taken back more territory the number of
VBIEDs has steadily increased. That points to IS rebuilding its car bomb
networks. The group may also be picking up the pace of operations for another
summer offensive, which actually starts in the spring. This may consist of more
terrorist attacks upon civilians rather than attempts at seizing ground as IS
may lack the capabilities to make anything but small tactical gains at this
point.

Iraq History Timeline

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com